Edward Snowden: The man who cuts party lines

Strange bedfellows have emerged following the revelations from former-NSA sub-contractor Edward Snowden regarding the NSA’s surveillance program of Americans. One side of the debate includes figures like former Vice President Dick Cheney who called Snowden a “traitor” over the weekend which is essentially President Obama’s opinion as well.

On the other side, some prominent Democrats are lining up with prominent Republicans like Kentucky Senator Rand Paul in praising Edward Snowden for breaking his classified status and releasing information to the American people.

Watching this go full circle is pretty fascinating as the same crowd, including President Obama and Vice President Biden, who harshly berated the former administration for this program are now in agreement with them to defend it.

Quite an amazing story line playing out right now in the political world.

Nate Ashworth is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for almost a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016.

30 COMMENTS

Today, news broke that M-I5 (British Intelligence) has been wire-tapping foreign diplomats. Anytime there are secrets, there will be some people trying to keep them, and others trying to find out what they are. I think the defense of liberty is more about openness and honesty than the power plays and duplicity.

Every citizen should ask themselves one question : Is it treason (or traitor) to tell the truth? I listened sunday while Dick Cheney called Edward Snowden a traitor. Yet, in the same interview Cheney said he and nine Senators worked out the President’s (Bush) Surveillance Program. He said they didnot seek any approval from Congress because of the danger of a leak. So it was by Executive Order that NSA was authorized to monitor, without search warrants, the phone calls, Internet activity (Web, e-mail, etc.), text messaging, and other communications. It appears that Barrack Obama’s mistake was in going through Congress to get this spy proccess legalized. Edward Snowden didnot discose any State secrets or any war plans. He said “Americans’ communications are collected and viewed on a daily basis on the certification of an analyst rather than a warrant. They excuse this as ‘incidental’ collection, but at the end of the day, someone at NSA still has the content of your communications.”

Before the ink was dry Presidents did nip away at the constitution until Lincoln: “Lincoln was the first President to violate the Constitution wholesale. Before him, every President tried to live within its framework for the most part After the not so honest Abe set the precedent well……………………things went down hill fast.

Anyway you cut it, the thinking of Mr. Snowden shows dangerous immaturity, and despite whatever cyber skills he has, there is no place in a sensitive position in government and security for a person that is inflexible and overcome with ‘idealism’ that can result in harm to millions.. Exaggerated senses of 1st and 2nd Amendments rights must be balanced against the options of ‘another 9/11’ and homegrown Oklahoma and CN domestic terrorists, With careful checks and balances, mature adults can adjust their idealism knowing that there is no ‘ideal’ on this side of the ‘pale’ (in life), we strive for such…but…

Yeah, well someone hired him with his GED and his support for Ron Paul . It was all there before he launched his one man crusade to save what is left of our constitution. A hero in my book a zero in the control freaks books.

The weirdest thing was a few days ago when his boss said he was fired. Well, duh. I guess the public announcement was supposed to reassure prospective employers that they can be trusted to double-cross anyone.

The fact is Snowden didn’t divulge any real secrets. All of of it was there publicly via E.O. or the Patriot act. The media never drove it home domestically so the general public were basically “low information” masses. Snowden just got it publicized. As i said in a different post – 4th Amendment – can you trust your government to keep their nose out of your biz without probable cause – and that cause have oversite by FISA and none of this domestic political crap leading to Tyranny and Totalitarianism. (Big Brother) – collecting and archiving is one thing – no perusing or purveying! .

To muddy the water, Edward Snowden was not actually on the US government payroll. The government had outsourced the program to his employer,Booz Allen Hamilton, who is 2/3 owned by the Carlyle Group. How can the government complain when Booz Allen put this sentence in their annual report “It is not always possible to deter employee or subcontractor misconduct, and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses, which could materially harm our business.”

Snowden is a hero in my mind. I don’t see how it can be called treason for someone to report that the government is violating the constitution that they swore to uphold. The people have the right to have control over the government … not the other way around. I personally see the risk of another terrorist attack as a lesser evil than a totalitarian government that spies on us and tries to control every aspect of our lives as they see fit.

Right now Snowden did a good thing! There were a bunch of general public who were totally unaware of the E.O.s, Patriot Act and Prism (about 60% – low info voters). Should Snowden release any top secret details or documents on those programs . . . he ain’t no hero anymore. This Administration is the only administration in our history that “We the People” have been concerned that the POTUS might declare Martial Law and take us into Totalitarianism. They have already used these programs for political advantage (not unjlike Nixon), but hopefully now Obama will get it out of his head that he will make the U.S. a 2nd rate Muslim nation reporting to the UN and he will become King of the world.

Our Constitution and Amendments are wonderful and sacred and makes us different that any other nation in the world. Hope this Administration will start adhering to it because of Snowden.

The Administration will fry him if they can – they say not only did he whistleblow about a Top Secret project, Prism, but he unauthorized coping T.S. documents and distributing them to maybe even “enemies” (he won’t be able to prove he didn’t and unless outside interests talk the Gov can’t prove he did.- but if they can,. the Gov will definitely try to FRY him. A T.S. is a pain in the butt, i had one with both the military and in sales for hi-tech and i did my best to stand clear of anything that even smelled like T.S.

Yeah I just read on another blog where the guy said the TS was a real pain as they called him in on a parking ticket. Only good thing about having it was the day he didn’t need it anymore. Funny I worked on projects where the guy next to me needed it but I didn’t. (military aircraft electronics)

The Military was Research Avionics Officer but never really needed it and in sales of semiconductors and test equipment i would have to be read in and an attachment to T.S.- definitely a pain, i’d get calls from old rels and friends asking if i was in sort of trouble. i don’t envy Snowden’s rest of his life even if he gets sanction in Iceland..

Sam: I doubt it. Obama says things hoping to quell the NeoCons, such as the current Syria deal. They always bluster about leaks and what-not but they don’t actually do anything, once the Patriot Act fan furor subsides.

Goethe – I don’t want to argue with you and your skills. if your truthful in your age by what you remember, we’re about the same.

With any other administration i never felt i was going to have to make a choice if i would have to shoot civilians or declare mutiny. I never worried that my POTUS /CinC would force laws and regs that would violate the Constitution or Amendments. Martial laws were used to deal with disasters and isolated riots – not to revamp the ideology and Constitution of this nation. spend some time on B.O.’s E/.O.s, the worthiness of his 32 + czars. look at the lack of checks and balances on the different departments and overeach without oversight – no accepting that “:buck stops here”.

I NEVER WAS WITH A POTUS AND DIPPED FLAG, APOLOGIZED OR ADMITTED TO ANYONE WE WERE SORRY AND WRONG. He has Stated the US is too big, a bully, too powerful and should work under the guidelines, laws, and rules of the UN. –Thats Bull Sheet to the nth degree.

Obama is deflecting much like Nixon did Obama still has the Media wrapped tight around him as comrades-in-arms.but that won’t stop congress this time and by the 2014 Election Republicans will still have the House and maybe the Senate too.

Obama is not a pussy cat! just because he doesn’t make an important decision quickly – he has to get input and direction and permission from the Botherhood and Soros. He hoped by now, we would be bankrupt, China and Japan howling at the door, and the $ de-valued by at least half plus Obamacare the final wrecking ball.

Goethe – i know you are so much better at political analyses – so here where i just hang it up and quit.

BTW “we the People” have usually been construed to be general citizens of the U.S.A. and walk of life and when i swore my lifetime allegiance, it was understood it was one of the lines of defense for them and the land we walk on and our flag is the symbol representing us.

Sam, Thanks for the kind words. We are about the same age, but we just see things very differently.

I felt very comfortable with Ike. I see him as the George Washington of the 20th Century. He took stands that were principled, and I think, right, in nearly all cases. As a former military commander, he knew the folly of war. He stood by the Constitution, and used his power sparingly. He also saw the danger of handing over power to corporations–who do NOT have our best interests at heart. And he was largely non-partisan. In fact, as I recall, both parties wooed him, since he was scrupulously non-partisan as a general.

I felt safe under Kennedy, but was much more concerned for the country and our Constitution under Johnson and Nixon than ANY other president since.

You must be watching WAY too much FoxNooz if you think Obama is a threat to anyone. His problem is that he’s afraid of offending anyone. He wants to please everyone.

Anyway, it’s clear that you have been frightened by the media hype, and I’m sure that your worries are sincere, but I just don’t see it. The concerns you enumerate are the same old, canned talking points.

And finally, I was being facetious. Opponents of Obama want you to think EVERYONE is hiding under the bed, worried about Obama, which is why I lampooned your “We the People.” Your “We” is a very tiny percentage of “The People.” The truth is that most people in every country are most interested in their day-to-day survival, and Americans are MUCH more interested in who wins American Idol than ANY other election in the country.

Even in Syria, where things are so bad, ONLY 20% of the Syrians want Assad gone, according ot very reliable polls. And, what we don’t hear in the me media is that a full 20% LIKE the guy. And as usual, the majority of folks there just want to be left alone, and don’t care which side wins the civil war. And it IS a “civil” war. It saddens me that Obama surrendered to the hawks who want us to get into yet another war that has no bearing on our national interests, but mostly–is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. The Founding Fathers must be rolling in their graves to see our EMPIRE building (not “nation building”). And I applaud Obama for (up to now) standing firm against the war freaks who just can’t wait for the next way to drag us into yet another senseless foreign entanglement.

I am not saying there are not things to fear or be appalled by, but nearly all of the things people criticize about Obama were begun under Cheney, et al., such as the NSA thing, Fast and Furious, Gitmo, and the rest.

Americans generally over-react to a crisis, including the internment of more than 100,000 innocent American citizens, when the US population was a third of what it is now. We apologized to those people, and one day, we’ll apologize for Gitmo. As Winston Churchill said, (as I recall it) “Americans generally do the right thing–after first trying everything else.”

you should have seen the DNC here in Denver in ’08. they had literally sq mi’s of streets and I-25 blocked off for approaching a week. and travel to DIA from downtown was hellish. The National guard was even involved.

Remember the movie The Patriot? “why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man’s rights as easily as a king can.